"Til It Happens to You" is a song produced and performed by American singer Lady Gaga. She co-wrote the song with Diane Warren for the 2015 documentary film The Hunting Ground, which deals with campus rape in the United States.
Kesha performed a cover of the song, accompanied with Warren on piano, at the To The Rescue Gala in Los Angeles on May 7, 2016. Kesha dedicated the performance to "every man, woman, child, and animal that has ever been abused". Gaga praised the performance, tweeting "Killed it @KeshaRose. I could feel your pain. Girl these boys won't be in charge forever. The wisdom of women is rising. Let's get louder 🤘🏽".
Background[]
A universal song about any kind of loss in life, "Til It Happens to You" was placed during two sequences in the film, highlighting the pain of sexual assault. The song consists of an orchestral production with strings, and an emotional vocal delivery from Gaga. Lyrically it asks listeners to stand in a victim's position and try to understand the turmoil they go through.
Lyrics[]
You tell me it gets better, it gets better in time
You say I'll pull myself together, pull it together
You'll be fine
Tell me what the hell do you know
What do you know
Tell me how the hell could you know
How could you know
'Til it happens to you, you don't know
How it feels
How it feels
'Til it happens to you, you won't know
It won't be real
No it won't be real
Won't know how it feels
You tell me hold your head up
Hold your head up and be strong
'Cause when you fall, you gotta get up
You gotta get up and move on
Tell me, how the hell could you talk
How could you talk?
'Cause until you walk where I walk
It's just all talk
'Til it happens to you, you don't know
How it feels
How it feels
'Til it happens to you, you won't know
It won't be real (how could you know?)
No it won't be real (how could you know?)
Won't know how I feel
'Til your world burns and crashes
'Til you're at the end, the end of your rope
'Til you're standing in my shoes, I don't wanna hear nothing from you
From you, from you, 'cause you don't know
'Til it happens to you, you don't know
How I feel
How I feel
How I feel
'Til it happens to you, you won't know
It won't be real (how could you know?)
No it won't be real (how could you know?)
Won't know how it feels
'Til it happens to you, happens to you
Happens to you
Happens to you, happens to you
Happens to you (how could you know?)
'Til it happens to you, you won't know how I feel